


I Don’t Want These Masks Anymore

by Numb2156



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akechi has a palace, Akechi is not okay, Bad coping mechanisms, Denial of Feelings, M/M, Most of the serious things come later, One-sided Pegoryu comes later, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Poor Ryuji, Slow Burn, Unrequited Crush, akira is depressed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-15 18:17:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18504442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Numb2156/pseuds/Numb2156
Summary: Akira had always thought something was off about Akechi. Nothing he ever said or did seemed genuine, it was almost as if he was wearing a mask at all times... not like he had room to judge. So for him, it didn’t come as much of a surprise when he found out that Akechi, did indeed, have a palace. The question that remains now, is what the Phantom Thieves will find inside of the distorted heart belonging to the Detective Prince.





	I Don’t Want These Masks Anymore

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fan-fiction I’ve ever posted, hopefully it won’t be as bad as I’m afraid it will be...  
> Either way! Hopefully this will be somewhat enjoyable for all the Shuake fans and all of the people who think Akechi should’ve gotten a palace, (if only it was possible in the cannon verse.)

“For real? After an hour we still can’t figure out what this guy’s keywords are?” Ryuji groaned.

“You’re making it seem like he told us his entire life story,” Yusuke muttered, eyebrows furrowed.

“Ya know, Akira, if you weren’t so set on changing Akechi’s heart, we could be planning a way to get out of this stupid deal instead.” Akira’s jaw clenched.  _You would want to leave a victim to suffer? I thought you were better than that, especially with what you’ve been through._

“There isn’t any way to get out of it! He knows our identities already! He has ties to the police and a huge fan base, so if we try and do anything, he’s going to leak everything he has and everyone would believe him! Maybe if you tried to use your brain for once in your life you would realize that!” Ann yelled, aqua blue eyes blazing. _Is that the only reason why you even agreed to help?_

“Tch,” Ryuji clicked his tongue, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair. Makoto sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“We’re not getting anywhere like this. If we tried to get closer to him, maybe we could figure something out.” Everyone turned to stare at her like she grew a second head.

“Get to know him? How when he has that stupid smile on his face all the time? God, I just want to slap him across the face so he would stop being so fake!” Ryuji scowled, putting his right leg on top of his left. Nobody seemed to know what to say, since it was true. It seemed as though Akechi hadn’t ever shown a genuine expression. He was more like a robot or doll than a human being. The unfaltering smile and airy laugh, it was so easy to see it was fake. Or for anyone who was paying even a bit of attention. That was something that Akira despised about Akechi; he never let the mask drop. _That’s funny coming from you, isn’t it? He only has one mask, you have more than you can even count, and you wear all of them around your friends; it’s the only reason they even like you. You and Akechi are similar in that aspect._

“I think Makoto-Chan is right. Since we don’t know anything about him, how could we possibly figure out how he sees the world?” Haru shyly asked, her high-pitched voice cutting through the silence.

“Yeah, but even I couldn’t bug his phone since he won’t let anyone touch it, or even leave it laying around,” Futaba sighed, throwing her head back against the worn out yellow couch. Morgana swished his tail across the surface of the oak desk, trying to think of any other ways they could get the detective to talk.

“What about you, Akira? Couldn’t you get something out of him? I mean, sometimes he comes to LeBlanc for coffee, that would be a pretty good time to try and talk,” everyone in the room turned to look at him, he hadn’t said a thing the entire meeting, absorbed in his own thoughts. Akira sighed and looked at the rest of the Phantom Thieves.

“You seem to think he wants to talk to us. He would just feed us lies that coincide with the image he’s built up,” his eyes narrowed and his voice fell flat.

“But it wouldn’t hurt to try, right? That’s the only thing we can do for now,” Morgana said tentatively. Akira sighed, trying to school his expression into the one of indifference he usually wore.

“You’re right, there really isn’t anything else we can do, at least not for now. We’ll talk to him tomorrow,” he said. Morgana nodded in affirmation.

”If he says something that could help us with the keywords we’ll inform the rest of you.”

“So, is this it for the meeting? Since we have a plan of action now?” Ann asked.

”Yes, that will be it.” There wasn’t any guarantee Akechi would say anything that could help them, hell, he probably wouldn’t even agree to spend time with him. However, Akira didn’t voice his doubts. Nobody wanted a leader who showed any signs of weakness or doubt. What did it matter if he had masks? They weren’t noticed, and it’s not like they were doing any harm. If anything, they made things better. Joker was what his teammates wanted, which is what they got. Besides, it was a lot easier to hide behind a mask than it was to come to terms with how useless he really was. 

 _“And yet you want to rip away Akechi’s.”_ A voice nagged in the back of his head.

 _Shut up._ He heard a chuckle, but it didn’t say anything else.

Ryuji yawned and stretched his arms above his head, getting up from his seat next to Akira.

“Man, who knew sitting around was so exhausting?” Everyone else groaned and nodded in agreement as they stood from their seats and started taking their things.

“I don’t know, but I definitely need to recharge my batteries after all of this,” Futaba said.

“I hear you loud and clear,” Ann stood and picked up her school bag, slinging it over her shoulder. Just as the Phantom Thieves were ready to leave, Yusuke’s voice stopped everyone in their tracks.

“How does Akechi have a palace? We know he has a persona, since he used it in Sae-san’s palace. Shouldn’t he already know what his desires are? If anything, shouldn’t he have _embraced_ them?” For a while, everything fell silent. Nobody knew the answer to that. Based on everything they knew, persona users couldn’t have palaces. They had already accepted their true selves and were aware of what they wanted, they even embraced it. Mona started swishing his tail from side to side again, clearly trying to come up with an answer for a while, before he shook his head and looked down.

“I don’t know. It’s possible that even if he’s accepted his desires and is aware that they aren’t good, he still has other parts of himself that he doesn’t want to acknowledge. I’m not sure if I’m right, but it’s the only thing I can think of.” Haru stood by Mona, gently petting his head as if to comfort him. Yusuke nodded, though his brows were still furrowed. After that, the thieves resumed in cleaning up and leaving, eager to leave the small space after what must’ve been over two hours at that point. As the last person left- Futaba- Akira stood from the chair he was sitting in and walked to his desk, picking up the tools necessary to make lockpicks and sliding into the red chair in front of it.

“Akira,” Morgana jumped onto the old, chipped wood. “Are you okay? It seemed like you were upset about something.” For a second, he was tempted to say, _You don’t even know the half of it,_ but he bit his tongue. Concern shown in Mona’s piercing blue eyes, his ears flattened against his head. Had this been another situation, he would’ve teased him for looking and acting like a cat, despite the constant reminder from Morgana that he was was a human and wouldn’t tolerate being treated like anything less. Akira forced a small smile and ruffled his fur, chuckling a bit at the hiss he received.

“Yes, I am. It’s just annoying to try and figure out what’s going on in the head of the famed, ‘Detective Prince,’ especially because I don’t think he’s ever been genuine with anybody, let alone us,” he huffed in faux annoyance, which managed to make him laugh. Morgana’s gaze lingered for a little longer before he turned his attention to the tools and started licking his paw, like he always did. 

“What are you waiting for? Get to work,” he ordered. I smiled and picked up the silk yarn and tin clasp, starting to make them into a lockpick.

—

Ding, ding, di- Akira picked up the phone and opened the messages without looking at who it was, not wanting to subject his eyes to the intense pain that would follow, especially not immediately after waking up.  _I wish my friends could text me in the morning, for once in their lives_. When his gunmetal eyes focused on the bright light the device was emitting, he read the name at the top of the screen.

Akira’s eyes widened as he finally saw who it was, and suddenly he wasn’t nearly as tired as he had been seconds earlier. Pushing aside his disbelief, his eyes darted down to read what Akechi texted him.

Akechi: Could you come with me to a movie tomorrow? I understand if you’re busy with your other friends, I won’t feel offended if you don’t have the time.

He checked the time on his phone, surprised it was 2:00 am and Akechi was still awake. While the invite to spend time with the detective was extremely convenient, Akira couldn’t help but ask himself  _why_ Akechi had invited him so suddenly. _Is he going to try and get more information about- no, there’s no reason he would have to pry information about the Phantom Thieves out of me since he’s with us now, albeit not permanently._ Akira bit his lip, he couldn’t think of anything Akechi could possibly get from inviting him to a movie. Was it just because he wanted someone to hang out with? Akira sighed. No again. Akechi had made it abundantly clear he had no interest in befriending any of them. Even his and Akechi’s conversations were spent talking about chess or making small talk, usually initiated by Akechi to fill the silence. He shook his head and typed out a response when his brain kept on coming up short.

Akira: I don’t have any plans tomorrow. What movie is it?

Akechi: It’s a movie that got high reviews, I thought it would be more interesting if you saw the title when we got there, since it might remind you of something. The title would give away what it is about as well.

_Remind me of something? What?_

Akira: So no movie summary either, I’m guessing?

Akechi: You are correct

_Why was he being so evasive about the name and summary of a movie? And why would he say that it would remind me of something?_

Akira: So what time do you want me to be there?

Akechi: The movie starts at 11:00, so I was planning to come thirty minutes earlier to get better seats

 _So the only thing he tells me is when to be there. I wonder if it’s too much to assume that the reason why he’s telling me to watch a movie with him is so he can kill me earlier._ Akira thought about it for a second. _Probably._

Akira: So I’ll be there 10:30

Akechi: I apologize for disturbing you this late, please have a good night

Akira’s arm fell down again, thumping on the bed, (opposite the side of Morgana.) The second the bright light coming from the phone faded, his eyelids drooped and his vision was encompassed by darkness. The world of black slowly fell away as he drifted off to sleep and was replaced with bright lights, a cheering audience of faceless people, and a grandiose stage where a sole performer stood, clad in a black trench coat and blood red gloves.

—

“Akira! Wake up! Don’t you have to go to that movie with Akechi?” Morgana yelled in his ear. Akira shoved his head away with a groan, muttering something unintelligible while ignoring the undignified squeak he made. “Joker, you remember why you agreed to watch that movie with him, right?” Akira could feel the glare being aimed at him. Sometimes it scared him how much Morgana reminded him of a nagging mother. 

“Yeah, I know,” _even though I wish I didn’t even have to talk to the guy at all._ He sat up and kicked off the covers, ignoring the cat sitting on them.

“Hey! Watch it! Just because I LOOK like a cat doesn’t mean you can throw me around like one! I’m still a human!” He hissed. Akira laughed at how Morgana scrabbled up from beneath the sheets that had been dumped on his head.

“I know, don’t worry, I’m not Ryuji,” he couldn’t stop the smirk from appearing as Morgana’s face scrunched up at the mention of the blonde.

”Yeah, the one who’s also head over heels for you,” Morgana teased, his eyes sparkling in mischief. Akira’s face heated up slightly and he quickly turned his face away from him, before he could see the blush spreading across his cheeks.

”No, he definitely has a crush on Ann. Besides, I don’t have a crush on him,” Akira turned back to face Morgana to prove his point. Sure Ryuji acted affectionate around him, throwing his arm around his shoulders every chance he got, but that was just what Ryuji did. It wasn’t meant as a romantic gesture, just something a brother might do. Morgana scoffed but didn’t say anything else.

Akira turned his attention back to the large cardboard box sitting on the lowest shelf of the oak, shelving unit. He dragged the box out and opened the flaps to take out a black blazer, white shirt and light-washed jeans. “So are you sure you want to wear that to your death?” Akira pulled the shirt over his head, replacing his pajama top.

”That’s not funny,” he replied flatly. He heard the cat chuckling in the background as he pulled on the jeans.

”Fine, to your date,” Akira choked. 

“W-What did you just say?” He turned to stare at him bewildered even as he could feel his face flushing. Morgana stared back at him in return, looking just as shocked as he was.

”Wait, do you actually have a crush on _Akechi,_ of all people?” He whispered, as if there was anyone who could-

 _“_ Bona-fide, Mona-fide,” he said. Almost instantly he received a text from the gremlin that would no doubt be spying on them. 

_Futaba: no dont do this to me! I need to know who u love!_

_Akira: Nobody. Least of all Akechi._

_Futaba: Ur no fun :(_

Morgana gave Akira a questioning look. “Why did you tell Futaba to turn off the cameras? Please don’t tell me you really have a crush on the guy.” Akira exhaled loudly, trying to hide his exasperation.

”No. I don’t. Yes, he would be a good asset to the team, maybe even a good friend if we got him to ope up to us, but I don’t like him in that way. Besides, why would I fall in love with someone who’s planning to shoot me through the head at the end of the month?” He smiled bitterly. Morgana looked down, at a loss for what to say. Akira looked away from him and finished putting on his socks and shoes. He stood up and pulled the blazer on in one smooth motion, looking back at his companion, who was silently watching him.

“Let’s go.” Morgana gave me a confused look.

”Don’t you want to eat?”

”We’re going to a movie theatre, I can eat something there. It’s pretty late anyhow,” Akira shrugged. He jumped into Akira’s bag without another word. Akira put the bag strap over his right shoulder and hopped down the stairs, telling Soujiro he was going to watch a movie with a friend. He nodded in achknowledgment, not turning away from the dishes he was washing. 

Once Akira stepped outside, his mind went back to thinking about Akechi, and what he could even want. Akira cycled through the possibilities, but none of them seemed logical. He shook his head in frustration, once again coming up blank; instead of thinking up other ridiculous reasons as to what the detective could want, his thoughts started to revolve around Akechi himself.

An image of his face popped into Akira’s head. That broad and charming smile, carmine eyes that sparkled like gems in the sunlight, his flawless sun-touched skin. Hair and clothes that always appeared neat and well-taken care of, the voice that sounded almost like a lullaby: soft and pleasant. Perfect in almost every way.

Almost.

The smile never reached his eyes. Those eyes never glistened with joy despite the sun’s attempts to brighten them and fill them with the life they were so devoid of. Whenever he spoke, some paying a bit more attention to the tone rather than the words, could hear how forced it really was. Akira couldn’t help but wonder if the reason for that, was so no one would ask him to be quiet. Was it just a matter of Akechi wanting to be heard? To be wanted? If that was the case, it would explain why he always seemed so perfect; he wanted to be desireable. _Would one of his keywords relate to that?_ Akira’s eyes widened ever so slightly. _Would one of them relate to having a completely different identity? Or perhaps even disguising one’s real self?_ A realization suddenly dawned on Akira, one of his keywords had to be-

“Hello! Earth to Akira! You’re here,” Morgana’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts, reminding him that he would be able to confirm his thoughts within the next couple hours.

“So where’s Akechi?” Akira asked. Pretending that he hadn’t seen the detective standing by the entrance of the theatre. _He sticks out too much. It’s honestly amazing how he isn’t surrounded by a crowd of teenage girls, seen as he’s not even wearing a disguise; just that plaid sweatervest and khakis._

“Kurusu, over here.” Akechi called out, smile firmly in place. Akira walked over to him, trying to mentally prepare himself for dealing with the evasive answers he would no doubt receive. 

“Hey, Akechi. Are you finally going to tell me about this movie or are you going to keep me in suspense for another thirty minutes?” He joked, deftly twirling a curl of raven black hair between his thumb and pointer finger. Akechi chuckled, low and pleasant, (and so painfully fake,) before responding. _Don’tpunchhimdon’tpunchhim._

“I’m afraid you won’t be finding out for another thirty or so minutes. But never mind that, we should get refreshments to make the movie more enjoyable,” he said, grabbing his wrist and dragging Akira after him without waiting for a response. Akira’s eyes widened, trying not to instinctively pull back his hand.

Akechi’s hand was warm, and the touch was nice, maybe even pleasant.  _Wait what? What’s wrong with me? I don’t have those kinds of feelings for him._ He’s just someone Akira wanted to befriend, and someone who needed help coming to terms with their desires; the feelings didn’t extend beyond that. After they got rid of Akechi’s palace, maybe they could convince him to join them. Akira knew that it wasn’t likely, but there was a chance he would agree to join them; especially if Akira’s theory about him wanting to be accepted was correct. He was a victim like the rest of them, and if everything turned out the way he hoped it would, he would join the Phantom Thieves permanently. He wouldn’t attempt to kill Akira, and he could help them with exploring Mementos and taking down corrupt adults. _After we find Akechi’s keywords and get rid of his palace, things will be a lot easier, and we won’t have to worry about him breathing down our necks and chasing us down._

_“Ah, but then won’t you have to make another mask to wear around him? I wonder what that one will be like...”_

Akira ignored the voice that never seemed to go away, focusing on Akechi’s back as he dragged him down the red-carpeted floor, determined to get rid of his palace as soon as possible.


End file.
